Below is the text of Mr Major’s Parliamentary written question on Benefits, published on 6th December 1982.

Mr. Major Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to end the situation whereby benefit paid for the first 12 weeks of unemployment may be deducted from any sums subsequently paid from the redundancy fund whilst still counting against the maximum number of weeks' entitlement to unemployment benefit.

Mr. Rossi Unemployment benefit is not payable for any period for which a person receives a payment in lieu of notice, whether that payment is made by the employer or comes from the redundancy fund because the employer is insolvent. Where unemployment benefit has already been paid for the period in question, the payment from the Bell fund is reduced by the amount of the benefit. However, this procedure does not lead to reimbursement of the national insurance fund and the benefit already paid must therefore count against the person's cumulative entitlement to benefit. I appreciate that this situation causes some confusion for claimants and we are studying the relevant regulations to look for solutions to this and other problems that have arisen in this connection.